Club information

Nickname: The Rs, Rangers, The Hoops

Ground: Loftus Road

Capacity: 19,100

Founded: 1882

Honours:

League Cup Winners: 1967

English Second Tier Champions: 1983, 2011

English Third Tier Champions: 1948, 1967

There’s always been an inert sense of style about QPR. Maybe it’s the cool west London location, the iconic shirts; their neat Loftus Road ground or the list of leftfield celebrity fans that includes Mick Jones of The Clash, Libertines frontman Pete Doherty, The Cure’s Robert Smith and former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock.

When that sense of style finds its way onto the pitch Rangers can be a delight. The golden years came in the mid 1970s when Queens Park Rangers came agonisingly close to being Champions of England. Manager Dave Sexton assembled a squad containing seven England internationals (including England captain Gerry Francis) that played the best football in England and finished runners-up in the League in 1976.

A decade later another charismatic manager – Terry Venables – took Rangers to the 1982 FA Cup Final, won the Second Division in 1983 and finished fifth in the top flight (securing UEFA Cup qualification) in 1984.

Venables departed to become manager of FC Barcelona and it would be a long time before QPR fans felt optimistic again. The club fell into the third tier of English football and came close to going out of business. If QPR fans thought things couldn’t get any worse they were wrong – in 2007 along came Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone and for the next four years it was “Carry on Shepherds Bush.” While Ecclestonewas an infrequent visitor to Loftus Road, Briatore would attend all games – often accompanied by Naomi Campbell wearing a QPR scarf and trying to look interested. If he was in a particularly bad mood he’d usually sack the manager – ten in four years!

Things were looking better for Rangers fans when the club was bought by Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes in 2011. Fernandes invested heavily in the team but has made some questionable signings and to date there's little sign of any light at the end of the tunnel; let's hope things soon improve for this chic and stylish club

QPR Legends? Quite a few really... Rodney Marsh, Gerry Francis, Les Ferdinand. Most Queens Park Rangers fans would probably go for Stan Bowles though. How much do they love him? Well the supporters’ football team is called Accrington Stanley Bowles.